


1st Day

by NervousAliceCurious



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fluffy, Gen, School, being friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:01:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23248903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NervousAliceCurious/pseuds/NervousAliceCurious
Summary: Kiara picks up a curious hitch-hiker.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1st Day

**Author's Note:**

> They have returned.
> 
> Cw: Implied stalker worries, chasing.

“Hi, Ink”.

“….How did you know it was me?”

I’m not even phased by the raspy voice coming very close to my ear.

“Your shadow”.

It stretches long and dark beneath my feet-

“….Hm”.

…Could mean a thousand different things.

“Morning”.

“Good morning…”

“Are you going to school too?”

“……….School?”

“Yeah”.

“Are you learning things?”

“Uh-huh”.

“Math…tests?”

“Mmhm”.

I take it you’ve never been?

“Have you ever left the 2nd Dimension before?”

“……No. But….I have watched the other side”.

“It’s a pretty big mess, isn’t it?”

“…..I suppose”.

I kind-of figured.

“How come?”

“…Hm?”

“How come you’re up here now?”

“…………………………………..”

I can’t tell if he’s thinking, or not understanding the question.

“….What”.

Okay then.

“You said you’d never left until yesterday, basically, so…why?”

“…………Why……?”

“It just seems like a long time to watch somewhere and not visit”.

“………………..I……………don’t………….know……..”

He tilts his head.

“Kiara….”

“Yeah?”

“…………What is…..’alone’?”

“Huh-“

“You wanted to know if…if…….”

“If?”

“……………………”

The tiniest frown-

“….You mean when I asked if you were comfortable all alone?”

“….Yes”.

“Oh…”

I saw a little bit of that yesterday.

Him being…..not exactly unsure of anything, but…not being sure of it, either.

“Well…”

How do I describe-

“It’s…when you’re somewhere…all by yourself?”

The best definition I’ve got…

“……………………….”

“-I probably said it wrong, but-“

“Hm?”

“……Did I help?”

“…………..May…..be….?”

“Okay. Cool”.

“…..But it’s not cold”.

“It’s an expression, too”.

“………On your face?”

“Uh…not always”.

“…………………………?”

My wristband-clock pings.

“Ahhh, I’m gonna be late-“

I start running.

“………………………”

I can hear him swishing to keep up with me.

“Are you always late?”

“Sometimes!”

“………Late for what?”

“My first class!”

“What is that?”

“Attendance”.

“……Hm?”

They want to know if I’m here or not”.

“You are here”.

“Like, ‘in the room at school’ here, sitting down”.

“………”

“Yeah”.

“What would they do if you were not there?”

“Probably call my dad and ask if I was skipping”.

“You are running”.

“It’s a-it means not being somewhere for a non-legitimate reason”.

“Like an excuse?”

“Yeah-“

“Hm”.

I ran in the door, and plopped into my seat.

Man….when will I ever learn to set an alarm-

I’m just lucky I’ve never been too late.

Not sure what dad would think of the phone call……

I pull out my notebook, and my pencils, and the sharpener, and-

-!?

“….?”

That looming shadow-

“Uh….are you enrolled here too?”

“….No”.

“…….Hanging out?”

“There is nowhere to hang from”.

-Right…

“Okay….”

-What will Mr. Brick think of him, I wonder?

….Can anyone else see him besides me?

We were lucky enough that the street was deserted when we left-

…

“Ink…”

“Hm?”

“…”

-How do I tell him he’s leaving an ink trail?

“Uh-“

“Hey, you made it on time”.

Ulp.

Guess who just got caught….

He’s got that lazy smile on his face.

My teacher-

“Congrats, you have narrowly avoided detention”.

I wheeze inside my brain-

“-Who is this?”

Crap.

Crap-

My heart pounds in my ears as I turn to where I know he is….er….floating?

Wavering….

Uh…

Wh-whatever it is he’s doing!

…..It’s a kid a little shorter than me, a little younger than me, and with buck teeth.

“Hi, I’m Benny….I’m new….”

“Oh yeah”.

He consults his list, while I feel my shoulders relax.

But….where’d he go?

I sit through an hour or two of algebraic equations before I get an opportunity to discover what even remotely happened.

The bell rings for next class, and I hurry into the hallway before most of my classmates are even out of their chairs.

Ducking under a stairwell (not the same one from last time, thank goodness, how clichéd would that have to be-), I wait.

I…only have ten minutes until I’m late for my next subject-

Shadows spill under my feet.

A pale, white face emerges from the floor-

“Ink!?”

“Yes”.

“….Please don’t do that ever again-“

“Don’t do what, appear out of the floor?”

“You scared me-!”

“Oh”.

I cannot tell anything from his expressionless-

“…..Why were you scared”.

“-?”

………I mean. I don’t know why I’m surprised-

“Well…I’ve never seen someone do that before unless they’re a vengeful ghost in a horror movie”.

“I am not a vengeful ghost”.

“I know, but what you did was like one, and it really creeped me out”.

“….Creeped?”

“It’s kind-of the same as scared, except it gets under your skin more”.

“……Under your skin?”

Is he-yeah, he’s serious…it’s so hard to tell, though-

That rasp is as emotionless as his…everything else.

I think-

“It’s a figure of speech”.

“……..”

The ink gushes to full height-

Ahhhhh-

How…how tall….is he!?

I feel intimidated-

“Uh….so….this is how you….vanished….huh….”

“I did not vanish, I merely went back to the 2nd Dimension”.

“…Why?”

……………………

Why?

Why….did I….

Go back?

……………………………….

“……………”

“……………”

I……..why?

………………………………………………..

“……………………………………………………………………………………………..”

“……I gotta go”.

She looks at her watch.

“………..”

“-It was just a question”.

She moves her shoulders up, then down.

……I wonder if……..that was not……the………

……r…….ight, thing……?

I…………..do…………….not……………………kn…………….ow………..?

I sink back into the-

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Now……….why……………………….did I……………………………do that-

“….Ink?”

“-Hm?”

“……Your head’s sticking out”.

“……………………………………………………….”

It is.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

I slowly…..un-sink.

“……You okay there?”

“…………What is that?”

“Oof, mood-“

“………..What is that?”

Before she can explain it to me, the wall starts to make noise.

AGHH SIREN ugh-

I nearly jump out of my skin-!!

-!?

My head smacks off the metal railing.

“Ow-“

“Is your crown alright?”

“It….still exists….”

Ow…ow…ow…

“Is this a fire drill?”

“Wh-yeah-“

From here, nervous laughter and chatter leak around the corner.

-Along with a few shushes from their teachers, of course-

I heard you couldn’t get away with that until college.

Guess they were right.

“………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………”

Ink sloshes around me, and the ground rises up over my face-

“Ink!??”

I’m surrounded by gray.

A red, oddly-shaped….thing….whooshes past my eyebrow-!???

“Ink, what are you doing-“

My shoes hit a flat surface.

“…………………You are safe now”.

“………………………………………………..??”

I stare at him.

“There is no fire down here”.

“………There’s no fire in a drill”.

“………………There isn’t?”

“Yeah”.

“……………………………………………………………………………………………”

The Mona Lisa smile he has going on becomes a line.

Is he confused, or-

He starts to slide away from me.

“H-hey wait!!”

I run to catch up-

“Hm?”

“Wh-where-“

He stops moving, and I almost crash into him.

“Where are you going!?”

“Outside”.

He’s looking at me, but….what is he-

What on earth is he thinking!?

“It is safe”.

“Well…yeah….but-!!”

Don’t just rush off-!!!

“You’re gonna leave me behind-“

Oh-!?

An arm suddenly swoops me to his height-

“What are you doing!!????”

“You will not be left behind now”.

“Ink-“

“Hm?”

“You….really shouldn’t just do these things without warning-“

“Hm?”

“………”

Oy.

“Some people don’t like it”.

“…………..”

-I get put down.

“Er, thank you?”

“…………………………….”

He continues to slide along again.

At least I only have to walk to keep up-

I don’t know what he sees.

It all just looks weirdly monochrome cartoonish to me-

Wait.

Are those-!?

Above me-

Sneaker prints.

Converse-

We’re under the-!???

“…………………………………………….?”

“We’re under the school….”

I can hardly comprehend it.

“No, we are in the 2nd Dimension, and that is the floor above rendered in 2nd Reality”.

“………………………What?”

“You are seeing the next floor, not the one with the stairwell where you just were”.

….I don’t get it, but okay.

This is as far as we can go from the site of the siren without leaving the property entirely.

I re-surface.

“………….I can’t believe this day-“

She sits in the grass.

“It won’t take long for them to find the source and bring everyone in again”.

“I hope so”.

A few minutes pass by.

“….Hey, Ink?”

“Hm?”

“….Thanks”.

“………………………………….”

-?

“…Did I do something?”

“Huh?”

“……………………………………………………………….”

……………..How………….I…don’t…know………how…to……say what I….mean…..

“………….You got me out of trouble…if there even was any to start with-“

“……Hm”.

………………………………………………………………………………….

“….They’re going now”.

“Already?”

“Pfft”.

Her smile is back.

“Yeah”.

She stands, brushing the dirt off of her skirt.

“Are you gonna stay all day?”

“……Hm?”

“For the rest of the day. Are you gonna follow me around to the rest of my classes?”

“……………………”

Hm?

“………..Follow you?”

“Yeah”.

She walks off.

“……………”

I have to hurry to keep up.

“Kiara?”

“Huh-oh…”

She laughs slightly.

“Almost left you behind there”.

She raps herself lightly on the side of her head.

“Man, and I told you not to do that earlier-“

“It was……just a mistake-“

He stayed by me the rest of the day.

Kinda knew he would….

……..He’ll probably do this tomorrow, too.

I don’t think I mind.

He’s a little weird, but he’s not….a bad egg, you know?

…………..I have the sneaking suspicion he wouldn’t even understand what a bad egg means.

“How did you like school?”

“They talk a lot”.

-Oops.

Sorry my teachers-

“Did you get bored?”

“……What is that?”

….Uh.

“I think I tried before…do you remember what I said then?”

“Alone?”

“….Okay, maybe I didn’t”.

I have to think-

“Being bored is….wanting to be somewhere else, doing something else, instead of what you’re currently doing”.

“Hm”.

“….So….did you get bored?”

“….No”.

“Ah! Lucky-“

“Did you?”

“Yeah…a little….”

I rub my neck, feeling guilty.

“I always lose focus near the end”.

“…………………”

We enter the street with the green house.

My house-

“…Bye”.

“………………”

I go over to the gate.

He stands there like an undecided rock.

Uh….

Wait, what?

I do a double-take.

……..The visit is over.

………………………………………..

………………Soon, she will be at the door.

Then she will go in.

………………………………………………………………….

Then what?

“……It was nice meeting you”.

……………………………………….

Then what-

“You…as well”.

The door shuts.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Did I-

….

Miss-

………..

I sink into the 2nd Dimension.

….He really seemed like he was going to say something.

…

The disappointment kinda stings….

Oh well.

Day dawns the next morning.

I groan as my alarm goes off-

Finally remembered to set one right.

My dad will cheer-

When it’s five A.M.

My eyes fuzz, and I wipe at them with grainy knuckles.

Lock myself into the bathroom, and turn on the faucet.

Hot water, please-

I wash my face.

-It’s like a jolt of light to wake me up.

I make sure to scrub everywhere in the mirror-

It fogs.

Aw man.

Not again-

I swipe my hand across the wet surface.

Letters-!?

‘Hello Kiara….’

My stomach pits-

Until I realize.

They may be plastered awkwardly over my forehead, but-

“Ink?”

I spin.

I………

Don’t see him?

“….Ink?”

Where are you-

A black puddle gathers under my feet.

“Ink, is that you?”

He slowly rises until that seven-foot-frame just barely grazes the ceiling tiles.

“…..Yes. It is me-“

I am strongly tempted to give him a hug.

“What are you doing?”

“…………………………………………………..I am standing”.

“Yeah, but why?”

“……Because……………………………………………………………?”

……Because………..? Because……………………?

“It’s okay if you don’t know…”

“…..?”

“Morning”.

She leaves.

……………………………………

“……….It is sunny-?"

………………………………………….I……….I don’t……..know.

…….Why……..I am………….doing………………what……I am……………..doing.

………Kiara……………please come back?

Shadows are swishing under my feet-

“…..You gonna stay for breakfast?”

“…………………Yes”.

“…..You like eggs?”

“…………………………….I…..have never…….eaten…….anything”.

“Ever?”

“…………………………………………………………………………………………Yes”.

“Wow. You never get hungry?”

“……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Yes”.

Whoa.

That’s pretty-

“Hi dad!”

“Hi-“

He flips a yolk with a spatula.

It splats onto the metal-

“Uh-!??”

Ink leans over his shoulder.

“Hi-there-“

“…………….You are Dad?”

-_-

“Yes, I am Dad. But, you…..mister….(?)….can call me Mark”.

“………………Mark”.

“That’s right: M-a-r-c-h”.

“March?”

“No, 'Mark'. How you spell it, versus how you say it”.

“……………………….”

“You got it?”

“…………………………Hm?”

“……………Oof”.

He gives a long-suffering sigh….

Years of March being mangled by the public school system will do that to you.

“Kiara, who is this?”

“His name’s Ink”.

“Ink is made of ink?”

“Yeah”.

“………”

He flips another yolk while his brow furrows.

“…….Where did ‘Ink’ come from?”

“Oh…….”

Haha, _yeah-_

I blush slightly.

“I kinda….fell off the stairs…almost-“

“You did WHAT!??”

“Almost….fell off…the stairs….”

My blush gets deeper-

“B-but, he popped out of nowhere, and made sure I didn’t fall to my death, sooo-!!”

“He did, did he?”

“……………..Yes”.

“…………………………….”

Dad stares at him warily.

“O….kay…..”

“That was two days ago”, I sheepishly admit-

“Wait WHAT-“

“A-and then….he….kind-of…..tagged along with me to school-“

“He did?”

“Yeah-huh……”

“That’s…..a little weird….there kiddo-“

“I will-I did not-harm her-“

Ink stumbles over his words, and my dad’s eyebrows raise.

“…………………..Hm”.

“……..Come again?”

“He’s nice, dad. He kinda acts like my five-year-old cousin, but he’s really nice”.

“…….A…..tiny human-?”

I smother a laugh.

“Yeah, Olivia’s real tiny-“

“My dad senses are tingling”.

“…………………………………Hm”.

The spatula is pointed at the expressionless face.

“I must protect!”

“Hm?”

He breathes.

Oh boy.

“If you hurt my daughter, I promise to…..chase you back to wherever weird world you came from!”

“……………………………Don’t chase me”.

For a moment, I think I see a flickering eyeball?

“……Only if you do something stupid that gets Kiara upset”.

“DAD-“

“I must do this! It is parental duty!!”

“Hm?”

Ink grows hands, and pokes at the deadly cooking device.

“-Do NOT steal my weapon!!”

He pauses.

“……………………….Hm?”

“Dad, don’t make him sad!”

“You rhymed”.

He sticks fingers through the holes-

_Snatch._

“-“

Ink looks at it.

“That’s what you use to flip eggs….and pancakes”.

“You eat the pan?”

“No-“

“-Can I have that back, now?”

“Hm?”

……Ooh boy.

I feel a sweat drop forming....

"......Alrighty, you two....play nice..."

"I just want my spatula back!"

"Hm?"

"........."

I sigh.

"It's gonna be a loooong week-"

**Author's Note:**

> : 3 Happy goofballs.


End file.
